Hopton, Ann Kathryn orcid.org/0000-0002-2505-1176, MacPherson, Hugh orcid.org/0000-0003-4255-4768 and Thomas, Kate (2013) The acceptability of acupuncture for low back pain:a qualitative study of patient's experiences nested within a randomised controlled trial. PLoS ONE. e56806. ISSN 1932-6203
Abstract
ABSTRACT Introduction The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidelines recommend acupuncture as a clinically effective treatment for chronic back pain. However, there is insufficient knowledge of what factors contribute to patients’ positive and negative experiences of acupuncture, and how those factors interact in terms of the acceptability of treatment. This study used patient interviews following acupuncture treatment for back pain to identify, understand and describe the elements that contribute or detract from acceptability of treatment. Methods The study used semi-structured interviews. Twelve patients were interviewed using an interview schedule as a sub-study nested within a randomised controlled trial of acupuncture for chronic back pain. The interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. Results and Discussion Three over-arching themes emerged from the analysis. The first entitled facilitators of acceptability contained five subthemes; experience of pain relief, improvements in physical activity, relaxation, psychological benefit, reduced reliance on medication. The second over-arching theme identified barriers to acceptability, which included needle-related discomfort and temporary worsening of symptoms, pressure to continue treatment and financial cost. The third over-arching theme comprised mediators of acceptability, which included pre-treatment mediators such as expectation and previous experience, and treatment-related mediators of time, therapeutic alliance, lifestyle advice and the patient’s active involvement in recovery. These themes inform our understanding of the acceptability of acupuncture to patients with low back pain. Conclusion The acceptability of acupuncture treatment for low back pain is complex and multifaceted. The therapeutic relationship between the practitioner and patient emerged as a strong driver for acceptability, and as a useful vehicle to develop the patients’ self-efficacy in pain management in the longer term. Unpleasant treatment related effects do not necessarily detract from patients’ overall perception of acceptability.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | ©2013 Hopton et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
Keywords: | acceptability,back pain,acupuncture,mediators,qualitative |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Sciences (York) > Health Sciences (York) |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 09 Apr 2014 15:00 |
Last Modified: | 16 Oct 2024 12:18 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0056806 |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1371/journal.pone.0056806 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:75231 |
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Description: Acceptability of acupuncture